Two Northern Idaho School Teachers win $13,000 in Grants from the CenturyLink Foundation for Innovative Technology Projects

Students in Lewiston will be increasing their geographic literacy through spatial technologies utilizing the Geographic Information System and Interactive White Boards in the classroom.  In Post Falls, students will experience a mathematics transformation utilizing Smart Boards in their classrooms.

Two Northern Idaho teachers are among 12 statewide winners who are recipients of the   CenturyLink “Innovative Uses of Technology in Education” Grant Program which is now in its eighth year.  The program began after a statewide evaluation of technology in public schools in 2003 found many teachers needed support in integrating technology into the curriculum.  CenturyLink, which merged with Qwest in April of last year, will provide a total of $100,000 to the twelve grant winners across Idaho this year, bringing the total over the eight years to $590,000.  CenturyLink Idaho Vice President and General Manager, Jim Schmit, will present all three teachers with their awards in their classrooms on Monday, Jan. 23rd.

The Lewiston winner is Pamela Johnson who was awarded $10,000 to purchase 4 Interactive White Boards and 4 projectors so that Jenifer Junior High School students will have the opportunity for an interactive geography experience.  The Post Falls winner is Jen Cleave, who received $3,062 to purchase two Walk and Talk Smart boards that will engage and transform Ponderosa Elementary School 5^th Grade students in math and technology using an innovative and inquiry-based approach.

“These teachers know and understand the important role technology can play in the classroom to help individualize instruction and raise academic achievement for every student,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna said. “I am grateful to CenturyLink for its continued commitment to Idaho’s teachers and students every year as they work to bring these innovative ideas to life and create the 21^st Century Classroom in every school.”

“In reviewing more than one hundred applications, we have been very impressed with the level of interest and overall excellence of the grant proposals,” Schmit said. “There are many teachers in Idaho who are doing innovative things with technology in their classrooms.  This is a great opportunity for CenturyLink to make a positive difference in students’ lives by identifying some of those teachers, recognizing them for their outstanding work, and supporting them with financial assistance to expand their use of technology even further.  From our past experience with these grants, students are genuinely excited to experience the learning opportunities provided by these teachers through their creative use of technology.”

About CenturyLink
CenturyLink is the third largest telecommunications company in the United States. The company provides broadband, voice, wireless and managed services to consumers and businesses across the country. It also offers advanced entertainment services under the CenturyLink^TM Prism^TM TV and DIRECTV brands. In addition, the company provides data, voice and managed services to enterprise, government and wholesale customers in local, national and select international markets through its high-quality advanced fiber optic network and multiple data centers. CenturyLink is recognized as a leader in the network services market by key technology industry analyst firms, and is a global leader in cloud infrastructure and hosted IT solutions for enterprises through Savvis, a CenturyLink company. CenturyLink’s customers range from Fortune 500 companies in some of the country’s largest cities to families living in rural America. Headquartered in Monroe, La., CenturyLink is an S&P 500 company and is included among the Fortune 500 list of America’s largest corporations. For more information, visit www.centurylink.com.